Alex Eala cruised to a 6-1, 6-4 victory over local wildcard bet Jenny Lim to advance to the second round of the W25 Joue les Tours in France late Wednesday.
The 16-year-old Eala asserted her might over her fellow junior player to set up a meeting with second seed Russian Oksana Selekhmeteva, who dominated Cristiana Ferrando, 6-2, 2-1 until the Italian retired.
It would be an exciting matchup between Eala and Selekhmeteva, who are familiar with each other after winning the 2021 Roland Garros Girls Doubles title.
But this time, they would be meeting on opposite ends of the court in a battle of two left-handers with a goal of clinching a quarterfinal berth in this $25,000 tournament.
This would be the second time that Eala and Selekhmeteva are meeting in a singles match, with the Russian winning their first meeting at the quarterfinals of the W15 Manacor last year, 6-2, 6-3.
Selekhmeteva also boasts of a higher Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) ranking of 207 compared to Eala’s 580.
The Russian is also coming off a semifinal finish at the W25 Manacor last January.